APOD
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Big Sky Comet
Explanation: Explanation : On April 17 th , “Big Sky” country sure lived up to its name. The dark skies over the US states of Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas were quite busy, as shown by this photograph featuring Comet Hale-Bopp . In the foreground is the Absaroka Mountain Range in Wyoming, lit by reflected moonlight. Just to the left of Jim Mountain's peak is Comet Hale-Bopp . The unusual colors visible on the far right are aurora , remnants of the recent solar storm recorded on the Sun . Across the middle of the photo are numerous bright stars , and across the top of the picture are clouds .
| Date | April 21, 1997 |
|---|---|
| Credit |
Big Sky Comet Credit and Copyright: Dewey Vanderhoff |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |